


unfamiliar // familiar

by crystallinedragons



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: #implied past relationship, #implied reset timelines, #mettaton is confused, #sans is hurting, #they'll be gay in the end, #this is just a one shot i might write a multi-chapter fic later, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-03
Updated: 2016-04-03
Packaged: 2018-05-31 02:20:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6451615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crystallinedragons/pseuds/crystallinedragons
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>a past relationship stills haunts him, he never wanted to get into that mess again.</p><p>but hey, doesn't history repeat itself?</p>
            </blockquote>





	unfamiliar // familiar

The door rang softly as it opened. An unfamiliar face peered through into the bar- Unfamiliar, no, familiar for sure. Who could forget?

The monster- no- a _robot_ smiled softly, the corners of black lips curving upwards, entering in the diner, and quietly greeting the surrounding monsters with a faint 'hello', unlike his usual one. The dim yellow light glinted on his metal breastplate, turning the pink to orange.

Sans remained silent, watching while holding a worn bottle of ketchup. A personal favourite.

The voices went back to their usual chatter, after bubbles of 'hello' and 'how are you, Mettaton?' died down. The star- superstar took his own seat in a booth near the door, running a gloved hand through his dark hair, fixing any stray strands. It was a strange sight to see the celebrity in such a small town, but definitely not a bad one.

He looked back down to his meal, fries and a burger, warm, but not cold enough to push back the plate in disgust. He glanced up at Grillby, smiling meekly. The bartender only nodded, taking the plate away to bag up for later. How kind. Sans placed the bottle back down on the counter, the plastic clicked faintly against the glossy wood.

Sans wanted to look back- Say hello- Say how are you- Say _anything._

No words rose from his mouth. No words formed in his skull. Nothing but silence. Sad, sad silence. Regrettable silence.

His voice was quiet, but buzzed through the air clearly. Sans could easily make out the words of him chatting with the owner of the bar.

_"It's nice to be here after such a loud show..."_

Even his voice hurt. It rang in his skull- So pretty, yet so painful. Beautifully tenor, beautifully soft.

Beautifully _him._

Sans could hear the click of his boots as he got up- Oh _no. Please don't come over here-_

"Didn't know a skeleton could drink."

"didn't know a robot could either." His own voice has mirth in it, yet it was fake.

It was just like the last time- Same words, same voice.

Same Mettaton sitting down next to him with a coy smile dancing across his face- _his gorgeous face_.

"How has your evening been, dear?"

"the same as always, nothing too horrible happening, but nothing too amazing."

"No news is good news." Mettaton laughed, yet it was empty. He crossed his legs, tapping the ball of his foot against the wooden floor. "I couldn't say the same though for myself though, I had a busy night that ended abruptly."

Sans already knew the answer, "what happened, metta?"

"Malfunction with the audio." Mettaton sighed, placing an elbow on the counter and leaning his head on his gloved hand. "Thank the stars it was just after a show- I'd be so embarrassed if I had to dismiss an entire audience just because my microphone didn't work-"

"can't you just turn up your own volume, since you're a robot?"

"I wished it worked that way. I'll ask Alphys that later. If she isn't too busy smooching Undyne." Mettaton laughed softly and Sans looked down, wrapping his arms around himself, his fingers digging into the cloth of his hoodie. The robot quirked an eyebrow at him. "Are you sure you're alright-?"

"couldn't be better, metta."

Shit. His voice shook.

Mettaton frowned, "Sans, you know you can tell me what bugs you."

_You would never understand._

"i'm fine- i promise."

" _Sans._ "

"mettaton. i said i am _fine._ "

"I don't believe so dear, but if you're going to act like that, I won't push it." Mettaton uncrossed his legs, turning to look back at the shelves, lined with various bottles of booze, all reflecting the homey yellow light.

The silence drew on between them, Sans couldn't dare to look at his face. Too much would rush back- Too many memories- countless memories would come rushing back and overwhelm him.

He didn't want to go through that again.

Not tonight-

Or any night.

Sans let a heavy sigh slip through his teeth, his trademark grin falling from his face.

It all hurt, but at the same time everything was numb.

_Distance yourself, and you won't go through the pain again._

His fingers twisted around the strings on his hoodie, picking at any loose threads.

_He couldn't do that again- He knew it._

_But._

_Sans didn't want to lose Mettaton again._

_One can't win, if they never try._

"i'm-" He almost choked on the first word, "i'm sorry- i've had a bad time over the past few days and-"

"Say no more, dear."

"what-?" Sans' eyelights flicked over towards Mettaton.

He heard the squeak of the bar stool as Mettaton turned to face him, his eyes- Oh god his eyes looked so genuine and honest- Yet they looked so... sad, so sincerely concerned. "Sans, you don't need to give me a reason on why you're feeling horrible, just telling me that you're not okay is enough. Besides..."

"I'll be there for you anyway."

Mettaton offered him a patient smile, his gorgeous eyes closing.

"..."

Sans smiled back, "...thanks, metta." 

Maybe this time, it won't be so bad.

**Author's Note:**

> woah boy i have not had the confidence to post this outside of wattpad for the longest time but it got a lot of likes and someone even called it beautiful so i wanted to post it here ;w;
> 
> sorry if the writing's kinda weird i noticed i switched styles in the middle of it


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